Ren&eacute A. Guzman: The last issue of ‘Y: The Last Man’ is simply exquisite

Note: If you haven’t yet read “Y: The Last Man” No. 60, stop right here and read it before you proceed any further. Spoilers ahead.

Yorick Brown’s epic adventure would end this way — not with a bang but with a whimsical, poignant, uplifting whimper.

You could say Brian K. Vaughan really channels his “Lost” work, what with this issue taking place 60 years from now. (Hmm, 60 years? Issue 60? Coincidence?) But the flash-forward works wonderfully because it gives us just what we need to see the end of this story to its logical, albeit open-ended conclusion.

Only BKV could show Yorick as still the last man but not thanks to cloning. And only BKV could turn that simplistic sci-fi trope into a sophisticated device to get Yorick to open up about so much baggage he’s held since we last saw him in issue 59. And yet at the same time not reveal much at all.

Why all the dichotomy? Think about it: Who else would Yorick open up to other than, well, himself? And even then it’s not quite himself, so we don’t quite get all that insight anyway, just enough.

That’s what BKV gives us in this last issue — just enough.

The women in Yorick’s life have moved on, as has the rest of the world. But Yorick really hasn’t been able to (much less wanted to) until this issue. In that regard the flash-forward makes perfect sense. Yorick’s life pretty much ended with Agent 355′s death. It’s taken this long for him to move on.

Likewise, the cover image is the perfect bookend to this saga, as the straitjacket ensnaring Yorick makes for the perfect metaphor. Never mind Yorick’s background as an escape artist. We all know so many events and personal demons have wrapped him up for so long.

So with this end to “Y: The Last Man,” it’s only fitting Yorick finally escape it all. And as testament to BKV and the many talents within this story and behind its telling, it’s also only fitting we’re left to ponder just how all that magic happened before our eyes.